{"id":9853,"date":"2026-08-17T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stillcoviding.ca\/en\/?p=9853"},"modified":"2026-08-19T17:45:52","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T21:45:52","slug":"free-n95-masks-available-in-many-bc-interior-communities-as-smoke-persists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stillcoviding.ca\/en\/news\/free-n95-masks-available-in-many-bc-interior-communities-as-smoke-persists\/","title":{"rendered":"Free N95 masks available in many BC Interior communities as smoke persists"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>While there has been bits of relief at times over the past few days, wildfire smoke continues to be a part of our daily lives in the BC Interior right now.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, wildfire smoke exposure can affect both short-term and long-term health, and people can\u2019t always stay inside to avoid the poor outdoor air quality.<\/p>\n<p>As a result, the Canadian Red Cross has stepped up to offer free N95 respirator masks across many BC Interior communities.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cN95 respirators masks are effective at reducing exposure to particulate pollution, such as wildfire smoke and smog, as well as respiratory illnesses,\u201d explains a release from the Government of BC.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s a list of locations where N95 masks are available free of charge:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Community Futures Sun Country<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Address: 203 Railway Ave., Ashcroft<\/li>\n<li>Hours: 8&nbsp;am to 4&nbsp;pm, Monday to Friday.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n<p><strong>Kamloops Downtown Business Improvement Area Association<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Address: 202-246 Second Ave., Kamloops<\/li>\n<li>Hours: 8&nbsp;am to 4&nbsp;pm, Monday to Friday.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n<p><strong>Kamloops North Shore BIA<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Address: 115 Tranquille Rd., Kamloops<\/li>\n<li>Hours: 8&nbsp;am to 4&nbsp;pm, Monday to Friday.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n<p><strong>The Salvation Army<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Address: 344 Poplar St. N, Kamloops<\/li>\n<li>Hours: 9&nbsp;am to 4&nbsp;pm, Monday to Thursday. Ask staff for masks.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n<p><strong>University of British Columbia &#8211; Okanagan campus<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Address: 3287 University Way, Kelowna<\/li>\n<li>Masks are available at the Campus Security Dispatch Office.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n<p><strong>Lake Country Health Planning Society<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Address: 10080 Main St. N, Lake Country<\/li>\n<li>Hours: 9&nbsp;am to 4&nbsp;pm, Monday to Friday. Available at the front desk.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n<p><strong>Nicola Valley Community Justice Services Society<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Address: 1999 Garcia St., Merritt<\/li>\n<li>Hours: 8:30&nbsp;am to 4:30&nbsp;pm, Monday to Friday. Available at the front desk.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n<p><strong>District of Peachland<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Address: 4450 6th St., Peachland<\/li>\n<li>Hours: 8&nbsp;am to 4&nbsp;pm, Monday to Friday. Available at the front desk.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n<p><strong>Cariboo Friendship Society<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Address: 99&nbsp;3rd Avenue&nbsp;S, Williams Lake<\/li>\n<li>Hours: 8:30&nbsp;am to 5&nbsp;pm, Monday to Friday. Available at the front desk.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n<p><strong>Neskonlith Indian Band<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Address: 705&nbsp;Chief Neskonlith Dr., Chase<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While there has been bits of relief at times over the past few days, wildfire smoke continues to be a part of our daily lives in the BC Interior right now.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, wildfire smoke exposure can affect both short-term and long-term health, and people can\u2019t always stay inside to avoid the poor outdoor air quality.<\/p>\n<p>As a result, the Canadian Red Cross has stepped up to offer free N95 respirator masks across many BC Interior communities.<\/p>\n<div class=\"more-link-wrapper\"><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/stillcoviding.ca\/en\/news\/free-n95-masks-available-in-many-bc-interior-communities-as-smoke-persists\/\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Free N95 masks available in many BC Interior communities as smoke persists<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1132,83,96,126,1129,1424,245,207,165],"class_list":["post-9853","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-air-quality","tag-british-columbia","tag-canada","tag-climate-crisis","tag-forest-fires","tag-kamloops","tag-n95-respirators","tag-wildfire-smoke","tag-wildfires","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stillcoviding.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9853","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stillcoviding.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stillcoviding.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stillcoviding.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stillcoviding.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9853"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stillcoviding.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9853\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9854,"href":"https:\/\/stillcoviding.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9853\/revisions\/9854"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stillcoviding.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stillcoviding.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stillcoviding.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}